Sea
Grant’s 2006
3rd Quarter Highlights
(Archive
of SG Highlights)
![thumbnail image of newsletter](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130217113549im_/http://www.seagrant.noaa.gov/newsletter/2006/summer/images/ecurrent_summer_200.jpg) Sea Grant E-Currents Newsletter now available! |
Alaska Sea
Grant publishes guide on how to safely and responsibly approach and
watch coastal wildlife: Alaska Sea Grant is offering tips on
the dos and don'ts of approaching and watching marine wildlife in
its newly published guide Responsible Marine Wildlife Viewing in Alaska.
The guide explains the federal laws covering marine wildlife viewing,
and offers useful tips on how to safely and responsibly approach and
watch coastal wildlife including whales, porpoises and other cetaceans.
The publication also offers vessel operators a voluntary Code of Conduct
pledge that can be posted aboard their vessels to let passengers and
crew know that they follow accepted guidelines to responsible marine
wildlife viewing.
Alaska Sea
Grant raised more than $5700 for the Alaska Fishing Industry Relief
Mission (AFIRM), representing 10% of publication sales from
November through April. The money will help fishing communities devastated
by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Scientists Use Satellites to Detect Deep-Ocean
Whirlpools. Using sensor data from several U.S. and European
satellites, researchers from the University of Delaware Sea Grant
Program, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Ocean University
of China have developed a method to detect super-salty, submerged
eddies called "Meddies" that occur in the Atlantic Ocean
off Spain and Portugal at depths of more than a half mile. These warm,
deep-water whirlpools, part of the ocean's complex circulatory system,
help drive the ocean currents that moderate Earth's climate. The research
marks the first time scientists have been able to detect phenomena
so deep in the ocean from space -- and using a new multi-sensor technique
that can track changes in ocean salinity.
Ultrasound
and Algae Team Up to Clean Mercury from Sediments: A Sea Grant
funded study found that ultrasound and algae can be used together
as tools to clean mercury from contaminated sediment. This research
could one day lead to a ship-borne device that cleans toxic metals
from waterways without harming fish or other wildlife. For more information,
please visit http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/sonoalga1.htm
OSU engineers
are working with coastal communities to tap offshore energy: Oregon
Sea Grant provided seed funds ($60K) for wave energy research, attracting
NSF support. Sea Grant also connected community members through its
Extension Port Liaison Project (in partnership with NOAA Fisheries)
to provide expertise to the researchers about ocean conditions. Oregon
Sea Grant's communications leader, Joe Cone helped develop the new
DVD on the project. For more information see the "Sea Power"
report (and video) in the university's research magazine: http://oregonstate.edu/terra/2006spring/features/seapower.html
Oregon Sea
Grant and the Oregon Coastal Management Program co-produced a DVD
to provide an objective overview of the issues associated with building
and buying coastal property. Living On the Edge is intended
for developers, realtors, lenders, and coastal officials as well as
builders and buyers; it portrays the natural processes that create
special challenges in shoreline development. Knowledgeable Oregon
scientists, engineers, planners, and realtors offer their insights
and recommendations to address these challenges successfully.
Researchers
Unveil 'Super Sucker' - New Alien Algae Removal Machine: With
initial funding from the National Sea Grant College Program and partners,
marine researchers in Hawaii have a new weapon in the battle against
alien algae. They call it the “super sucker,” and it acts
as an underwater vacuum cleaner to take invasive algae off the reef.
Preliminary tests show it can remove up to 800 pounds in a single
hour.
In the wild, black sea bass are
born as females and turn into males at around two to five years old.
When you bring them into captivity, they change into males more quickly.
Some captive-born fish emerge as males even before reaching adulthood,
devoting energy toward reproductive development and away from growth.
Such problems make breeding and growing the fish in captivity a tricky
proposition. With funding from NH Sea Grant, researchers studied what
triggers sex reversal in black sea bass – and how to prevent
it. Researchers have discovered that fish are more likely to become
males if raised at constant temperatures. Sex ratios and density also
come into play. The researchers found that females were more likely
to change sex when no males were present in the tank. Additionally,
the fish were more likely to turn into males when kept in crowded
tanks. This research is taking the next step
toward making black sea bass aquaculture possible.
Fact Sheets
Help Property Owners Navigate FEMA Programs, Regulations: The
Louisiana Sea Grant Legal Program has developed a series of information
sheets to help people affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita navigate
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs and related legal
issues during the continuing rebuilding process. The fact sheets answer
questions about the National Flood Insurance Program, flood elevations,
rebuilding after a flood, and other reconstruction matters. The information
sheets are available online at www.laseagrant.org and www.lsu.edu/sglegal
Sturgeon were the most common fish
eaten by Jamestown's settlers in the early 1600s, but the stock plummeted
in the Chesapeake Bay in the early 1900s as commercial fishermen caught
them for their meat and eggs. A marine biologist with Virginia Sea
Grant surgically inserted a tiny radio transmitter into the large
sturgeon hauled and released it back into the James. The hope is to
eventually map sturgeon spawning grounds and
learn more about the habitat that they prefer. Such data could prove
crucial in restoring the stock.
After more than a decade of studying
rockfish reproduction, growth and development, California
Sea Grant biologists have successfully reared brown rockfish from
birth through their critical life stages. The achievement is
significant because rockfish, more than other fish, have fragile and
complicated early life histories. They are also prone to overfishing
and hence have been a priority for fisheries management.
Alaska Ocean
Observing System (AOOS) Website: Alaska Extension Agent facilitated
a session to beta test the new Prince William Sound section of the
Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) Web site. The huge site draws
on hundreds of weather models, NOAA buoy data, and satellite ocean
observations to provide a one-stop source for marine weather and other
information. It is designed for all marine users—researchers,
teachers, fishermen, processors, tendermen, shippers, kayakers, aviators,
and recreation and subsistence users. For more information: http://www.aoos.org
Sea Grant-funded scientists
at the University of Minnesota have identified glycerol and uracil
produced by Eurasian watermilfoilas attractive to hungry weevils.
(Glycerol is a sweet-tasting thick liquid used in many products that
humans eat, such as flavorings like vanilla, food coloring, candy,
cakes,etc. Uracil is a more complicated chemical with derivatives
that are important to cell metabolism, particularly carbohydrate metabolism.
It is also used to transfer chemical energy and translate genetic
information between cells.) The researchers pinpointed the attractants
as glycerol and uracil. They used techniques as complicated as mass
spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and as simple
as a salad spinner. These findings would be useful for sampling or
collecting adult weevils. The attractants could be used to lure weevils
living in a lake into a trap so that they could be released elsewhere
or used for research purposes, or the attractants could be used to
get an idea of how many weevils live in an area.